Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

From Francois Berthout

Lieutenant William Robert Allen,
57th Australian Infantry Battalion,
15th Brigade, 5th Australian Division

The Somme, today peaceful and silent under a winter rain, was, more than a hundred years ago, a hell of fire and death, execution fields in which friends and enemies killed each other in howls of rage that culminated in unspeakable bloodbaths in the fury of the artillery that buried alive thousands of young boys under tons of shells and who, in the darkness, in the mud red with blood, sacrificed their youth together through hails of bullets that poured on them in torrents, in storms of fire, flesh-thirsty machine guns and which, at a frightful pace, mowed down in a few instants, in a few minutes of an terrible apocalypse, waves of men with exceptional courage who came from the other side of the world to do their bit and who, in camaraderie, in a bond of friendship that nothing broke, did their duty side by side and gave their lives for our old France which will be theirs forever grateful for all they did p for us but also for the peace and freedom in which we live thanks to their bravery and their sacrifices through the fields of poppies in which they rest in peace for eternity alongside their comrades on whom I will always watch with honor and love so that they are never forgotten, so that their faces and their names, in the light of remembrance, can live forever.

Today, it is with the utmost respect and with the deepest gratitude that I would like to honor the memory of one of these young men, one of my boys of the Somme who came from Australia to fight in France and who, in the trenches of these sacred grounds, gave his today for our tomorrow. I would like to pay a very respectful tribute to Lieutenant William Robert Allen who fought in the 57th Australian Infantry Battalion, 15th Brigade, 5th Australian Division, and who was killed in action 106 years ago, on February 1, 1917 at the age of 24 on the Somme front.

William Robert Allen was born on December 8, 1892 in Kingston, near Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, and was the son of Doctor William Allen, honorary consultant at the nearby Creswick Hospital, and Maria Allen, of Pine Grove, Kingston. Unfortunately, his father died on December 30, only three weeks after William's birth. He was educated at the Geelong Grammar School,and was a fine oarsman, rowing No. 7 in the Grammar School Eight in 1910 and 1911.Trained as an engineer, he worked as a clerk at Strachan, Murray and Shannon's wool store in Geelong. William had joined Barwon Rowing Club by 1914.

At the outbreak of the war, William enlisted on 14 August 1914 at Prahran, Melbourne, Victoria, three days after enlistments opened, as a Trooper in the 4th Light Horse, C Squadron, aged 21 years and 8 months. Two of his uncles were Captains in the A.I.F., John and Thomas Parkin, both of whom had rowed with Barwon in the 1890s.

On September 11, he and his 37 year old uncle, Captain John Parkin and three other local boys were farewelled at a packed Creswick Mechanics' Hall, decorated with Union Jacks and wattle blossom.

Each of the volunteers were presented with a case of pipes suitably inscribed, to enjoy after a hard day's battle, and were called upon to respond to the large crowd.

Trooper Bob, as William was now known, said: "it was very hard for a young fellow to face all his friends, and make a response", nevertheless, he thanked them for the nice presentation, which he had not expected. He appreciated the good wishes, and it would give him greater courage and ambition, knowing the people he lived amongst supported him. The joining of hands and the singing of "Auld Lang Syne" and the National Anthem brought an enjoyable evening to a close.
The 4th Light Horse were not sent to Gallipoli with the first landing. However infantry casualties were so severe it was decided to send them, without their horses, as infantry reinforcements,and after a short period of training, William embarked with his unit from Melbourne, on board Transport A18 Wiltshire on October 19, 1914 and proceeded to join the M.E.F (Mediterranean Expeditionary Force) in Alexandria, Egypt, on May 20, 1915 then for the peninsula of Gallipoli where the 4th Light Horse arrived between 22nd and 24th May and were disembarked at ANZAC Cove and took part in several small assaults.

On August 12, while the regiment was fighting on a position called "Ryrie's Post", William was wounded by shrapnel in his left hand and foot and was evacuated to Malta by the Hospital Ship "Valdavia". On August 20, he was admitted to the Royal Naval Hospital in Malta suffering from septic wounds and a month later, on September 27, transferred to a Rest Camp. After recovering from his wounds, he joined the 4th Light Horse at Gallipoli on October 25 and fought at ANZAC Cove until the evacuation of the peninsula in December and sailed for Egypt on board "Caledonia".
On December 27, 1915, William was disembarked in Alexandria and was promoted to the rank of Second Lieutenant on March 26, 1916 in Ismailia. Shortly after, on April 7, fell ill but recovered very quickly and with the reorganization of the A.I.F, was transferred and taken on strength in the 57th Australian Infantry Battalion on April 29 in Tel-El-Kebir under the command of Lieutenant Colonel James Stewart. After a period of intensive training in the heat of the desert, with his unit, he proceeded to join the men of the B.E.F (British Expeditionary Force) on June 17 in Alexandria and embarked the same day on board "Transylvania" for France.

On June 23, 1916, after a little less than a week of an uneventful journey on the Mediterranean Sea, William and his comrades arrived in France and was disembarked in Marseilles then sent by train to Steenbecque where they arrived on July 1. Here, without supplies , the first job of the men of the 57th Battalion was to find water and food in the surrounding farms. A few days later, on July 5, the battalion was inspected by Prince Arthur Of Connaught, a grandson of the Queen Victoria and by General William Riddell Birdwood. Soon after, new equipment, including steel helmets and gas masks were received and distributed with practice and special exercises.

On July 8, 1916, the 57th Battalion left Steenbecque and marched into billets at Estaires then joined the trenches further north on July 11, relieved the men of the 51st Australian Infantry Battalion and suffered their first casualties here under heavy German artillery fire very active in this sector but the worst was to come and on July 19, William and the 57th joined the front line in what was the first and deadliest battle for the Australian Imperial Force on the Western Front, the Battle of Fromelles.

The Battle of Fromelles (July 19-20, 1916),was a feint designed to prevent the Germans reinforcing their troops on the Somme, where the Allies had launched a major offensive on July 1. The ruse, however, was unsuccessful.

Towards the evening of 19 July 1916, the Australian 5th and British 61st Divisions attempted to seize 4000 yards of front line centred on the "Sugar Loaf". However, the British bombardment, which commenced on 16 July, had warned the Germans that an attack was likely. As the troops moved into position on 19 July, they were unaware that they were being watched by German observers a mile away. The Germans heavily shelled the assembly area and communications trenches, causing hundreds of Australian and British casualties before the attack even started.

The assault began at 6 pm with three and a half hours of daylight remaining. The front line to the north of the Sugar Loaf was on average 200 metres wide and the Australians quickly crossed no-man’s-land, seized the German front line, and then pushed on for 140 metres in search of a supposed third and last line of the German trench system. No such line existed and the Australians began forming a thin disjointed series of posts in the intended position.

Other Australians attacked opposite the Sugar Loaf where no-man’s-land was 400 metres wide. The Germans had survived the British shelling and quickly manned their machine guns. Within 15 minutes they had decimated the attacking waves of Australians, forcing the survivors to find shelter. British troops attacking south of the Sugar Loaf suffered a similar fate and made no progress. The British planned a second attempt to capture the Sugar Loaf salient and asked the Australians for help. This plan was cancelled but the news arrived too late to stop the Australians mounting another attack with equally disastrous results.

The next morning the Australians that had breached the enemy’s lines were forced to withdraw to their own lines. The Australians suffered 5,533 casualties in one night, the worst 24 hours in Australia’s military history. Many fell victim to German machine-guns. The Australian toll at Fromelles was equivalent to the total Australian casualties in the Boer War, Korean War and Vietnam War put together. It was a staggering disaster that had no redeeming tactical justification whatsoever. It was, in the words of a senior participant, Brigadier General Harold Edward "Pompey" Elliott, a "tactical abortion".

Fortunately for the 57th Battalion at Fromelles, it was allocated a supporting role and suffered relatively light casualties compared to its sister battalions. This, however, meant that 57th carried the burden of holding the line in ensuing days for the battalion. Despite its grievous losses, the 5th Division continued to man the front in the Fromelles sector for a further two months.

On August 16, 1916, a month after this first catastrophic and deadly battle, William was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant at Rue-Du-Bois, near Fromelles where the battalion was pounded daily by enemy artillery but held this sector of the front with a great courage before being relieved from the trenches on October 13 and moved back into billets in Estaires where all the men of the battalion received new equipment including new boots and long coats then, after reorganization and the reception of new reinforcements,they followed a period of training and marched for Bailleul on October 18 and soon after received orders to march towards the Somme front, towards a new hell and on October 21, arrived by motorized vehicles in the small village of Buire on "dusty roads , which caused great discomfort" then joined a camp in Montauban the next day, where they lived in difficult conditions and in sticky mud but faced also rain and fog.

On October 29, 1916, William and the 57th Battalion left Montauban and joined the front line at Flers "under the rain and in trenches in very sloppy state". Here, once again under artillery fire, they fought with courage and were also employed to repair and deepen the trenches, built shelters and reinforced their positions, including the "Switch Trench" with strong points protected by sandbags, barbed wire and machine guns. Night patrols were also organized to try to get information on enemy positions but none were fully successful and on 30 October the 57th Battalion was relieved by the 54th and 55th Australian Infantry Battalions then marched to "Pommiers Camp" at Montauban.

On November 1, 1916, the men of the 57th Battalion left Montauban and marched on Dernancourt where they arrived the next day and received ammunition including two Mills grenades and 170 cartridges per man then, after a few days of rest, on November 6, moved by motor bus to Flesselles, near Amiens then were sent to Montonvillers the next day. On November 10, the battalion was inspected by Brigadier General Harold Edward "Pompey" Elliott then followed a training period here which ended on November 17, date at which time the battalion moved back to Dernancourt and Montauban Camp the following day. At this time, far from home, the Australians faced one of the worst and coldest winters the Somme had ever known and many Diggers suffered from trench feet and were evacuated to the rear. On 22 November the battalion marched for Bernafay Wood and the next day joined the front line and trenches at Gueudecourt, north of Flers, opposite to Le Transloy.

On November 24, 1916, near Gueudecourt, William and his unit entered the "Needle trench" where no work could be done during the day because a German observation post scrutinized all the movements of the Australians who were regularly under the fire of artillery. To add to the misfortunes of the men who fought against the enemy, a heavy rain began to fall from November 25 and the trenches became "terribly muddy and cold" and the doctors of the battalion regularly passed all the men to whom they asked them to take care of their boots and change their socks at least twice a day to avoid new cases of trenched feet and hot food was regularly sent to the front line to try to provide some comfort. On November 28, the men of the 57th went to occupy the Switch Trench where accommodation was very limited and were employed to build shelters along the line and t November 30, in thick fog, were relieved by the 56th Australian Infantry Battalion and moved to Mametz Wood Camp.

From December 1 to 5, 1916, William and his comrades were employed in Mametz in railway works on the Decauville Railway then on December 6, moved back to Montauban where they were again employed on railway works but experienced great difficulty because they were very often bombarded by enemy artillery then on December 15, again entered the front line near Gueudecourt and occupied two new positions known as "Windmill Lane" and "Spring Trench" where "the ground was frozen hard". In this sector, the 57th Battalion faced the trenches of the 361st Regiment of the 2nd German Division, several men of which were captured by the Australians during several raids. A few days later, on December 21, they were relieved from the trenches by the 21st Australian Infantry Battalion and marched for Ribemont via Bernafay Wood and Montauban where warm clothes and clean uniforms were distributed then followed here a period of training.

On January 1, 1917, William and the 57th Battalion left Ribemont and marched for Coisy then the next day, moved into billets at La Chaussee-Tirancourt for a new period of exercise including anti-gas exercises and on January 17, moved back to the trenches of Gueudecourt who this time were under snow and were employed to improve the trenches with numerous observation posts from which the Australian snipers "had good results". On 21 January the battalion marched for Bernafay "E" Camp then for Delville Wood on January 24 before moving back to the Needle trench, on the front line of Gueudecourt where unfortunately, on February 1, 1917, William met his fate and was killed in action by a German sniper, he was 24 years old.

The war diary of the 57th Australian Infantry Battalion recorded the day of February 1, 1917 as follows:
"Front Line near Gueudecourt. The trenches were cleared by dawn in anticipation of a Heavy Artillery Stunt between 1.30 and 2 pm. During the night our trenches and the whole area were heavily shelled. 2 OR's killed, 5 OR's wounded. During the morning Lieutenant William Robert Allen was sniped through the head and killed."

Today, Lieutenant William Robert Allen rests in peace alongside his friends, comrades and brothers in arms at Bernafay Wood British Cemetery, Montauban, Somme, and his grave bears the following inscription: "He answered his country's call."

After the death of William Robert Allen, it was written:
"Quite a gloom was cast over the town on Thursday when it was announced that Lieutenant W.R. Allen had made the supreme sacrifice for his country in France. He was a good sport and a real good fellow in every way. Very great regret is felt for Mrs. Allen at the loss of her only son, and deep sympathy expressed for her and Captains T. and J. Parkin. All the flags were flying at half mast on Thursday. Bob was the fourth of the five who were farewelled at the Mechanics Hall to be killed."

Later, Private Allan Falla, of Kingston, wrote to his mother with the details: "I was telling you about Lieutenant Allen who was in our Company, who got killed. You can tell his mother if you ever see her that he has a very nice grave and cross erected over him. The boys thought the world of him. They carried him five miles from where he was shot to bury him in a cemetery. We were just changing over with another battalion, and he was showing the incoming officer the different posts when a sniper got him right through the head."

William, young and proud, it is alongside your friends and comrades that for Australia, for France and all the freedom-loving peoples that you answered the call of duty and carried the colors with honors and carried in your hearts and your young shoulders the hopes of peace and freedom for which so many young men then in the prime of their lives left behind them the beauty of their valleys, the silence of the lakes, the warmth of their homes and the love of their families, of their loved ones to join their brothers in arms on the beaches and the hills of Gallipoli that the young Diggers climbed with exceptional courage alongside the New Zealanders under the fire of Turkish machine guns which poured death at a dreadful rhythm but in the face of which was born the spirit of ANZAC, a spirit of determination, bravery, unity and perseverance in the face of pain and adversity,a spirit in which was shown the determination, the valor and courage of the whole Australian nation which stood unfailingly at the side of its sons who, in the darkest hours of history, always kept their heads held high and faith in the future, even in the face of their fear and the omnipresent death of the battlefields, their bravery was never overwhelmed by what they endured and with confidence they continued to move forward and joined the soils of France who called them for help and without hesitation, even though they knew that many of them would not return from the poppy fields, proud under their slouch hats, resolute, intrepid and valiant, they charged bayonets forward on the lunar soils of Pozieres which were nothing else than putrid quagmires of blood and gas-poisoned mud and were mercilessly mowed down by storms of bullets and shells that buried them alive alongside horses but also alongside their enemies in abominable bloodbaths.Under grenades, facing flamethrowers, pounded, crushed by shrapnel at Mouquet Farm, seeing their friends who fell all around them in courageous assaults, they did not retreat a step despite catastrophic losses and held each position with the greatest courage watching over each other in the most beautiful bond of brotherhood that brought them together and gave them the strength and courage to go over the top, their friendship in this fury pushed them to go beyond they could endure and always in the front line, fought side by side with the greatest will, with the greatest determination so that the light of peace could pierce through the dark clouds of a world at war which marked the beginning of the deadliest century in history but nothing, neither the death that reigned over no man's land nor the mournful symphony that played around them through hurricanes of shells bringing despair and desolation, nothing never stopped the Diggers who fought like lions so that this war may be the last and who, through the barbed wire, through the poppies, shed their blood and gave their all, their lives alongside their French brothers in arms who, side by side, united in life and death did everything they could so that we can have a tomorrow, so that we can build together a better world in the peace for which these young men, our ancestors, our sons, our forever young heroes fell and who today, still proud, silent and solemn, stand side by side between the rows of their immaculate graves on which are engraved for posterity, much more than their names but also the stories of their lives which were taken so early in the hell of a world at war but live today in peace, in the silence of sacred grounds on which I will always watch with the deepest respect and care over these young men who have come so far for us and for whom I will always give my life with pride so that their memory and their names live forever. Thank you so much William, for everything. At the going down of the sun and in the morning,we will remember him,we will remember them.

I would like to warmly and respectfully thank Mrs Karen O'Connor and "Australian Rowing History" for their invaluable help without which I would not have been able to write this tribute.